conversations, go to cnn kaum sl.com cnn.com/amfix. it's 9:00 a.m. on the east, and 6:00 a.m. out west. much of your country is in ruins, and if somebody offers your daughter a better life, you have to make a choice. and nice to know somebody is keeping a close eye on every one. and sitting down for this one? stand up, your life might depend on it. we have a lot going on today, including don't ask don't tell. a policy that might be a memory depending on what happens in c.d. barbara starr has that covered for us today.

and then toyota, getting yo yours phoenix. marching orders for the u.s. military. right now defense secretary robert gates discussing lifting the ban on gays serving in the armed forces. the president made his intentions contrary clear. >> i will repeal the law that gives gays the right to serve the country they love because of who they are. >> reporter: we now know more about what they are thinking. a senior pentagon official tells cnn the chiefs are expected to support the president but they will tell him to what they

extent they believe allowing gays to openly serve will hurt morale and the readiness of the force. this is said of the chiefs, all they want is a little time to come up with their ideas to implement a change in the law if approved by congress. as a first step, gates is expected to call no longer discharging people outed by others. over the last 12 years, nearly 11,000 people have been discharged from the military for being gay. defense officials say the appetite to inform the law is declining. many say the debate now is to live with the change. >> one school of thought says just do it. it won't be that big of deal. >> there may be concerns about living in close quarters. but that may not work for everybody. >> we can talk about it delic e delicately or just be direct.

there are old-fashioned men who are conservative and they are not at the vanguard in many cases of accepting alternative forms of lifestyle. >> politically old-fashioned. barbara, i know you get a chance to talk to various people in the military all the time. >> there is people with all sorts of views. i talked to young troops that said this does not matter to me, i am concerned about me and my buddies staying alive in the war zone than i am about somebody's sexual orientation. there are people on the other side in the military say they have on going concerns about issues like housing, living in close quarters, and benefits for domestic partners. so the question may be, is it

time, are there enough people willing to accept the change and will the bottom line be will congress change the law. the bottom line is, is congress ready to do just that. >> the don't ask don't tell policy, where did it all begin anyhow? >> first implemented in 1993 by bill clinton. 11,000 service members have gotten the boot under the policy, and interesting note here, the numbers have declined since the afghanistan war began after the 9/11 attacks. fo for the next couple hours, we will peel back the layers on the issue. and carol costello gets to the bottom line of repealing the policy. some say it could save us a fortune. and ted rollins gets to the debate, gay warriors speaking out, all gay and all risking

their career by talking to ted rollins. and then we talk to two military vets serving in congress. how did they react to gay troopers that served side by side them, and wehere they stan on the fate of the policy? we will have that. preparing a new home for guantanamo detainees. president obama wants $230 million to spruce up and staff an empty illinois prison. it's part of the new budget proposal. some in congress say they will block the funding. the president promised to close down the gitmo center when he started his run for president. and a $30 billion plan that was thrown out there at the state of the union last week.

how does the president plan to use money from twos help main street? >> the whole idea here is to get jobs out there again. he figures if you get the banks lending again to small businesses, and small businesses have to hire, we will get the economy moving here again. at the town hall in new hampshire, president obama plans to layout the plan to take $30 billion of the t.a.r.p. money, and it would be a small business lending program and help community banks boost their small lending. they have assets under $10 billion. president obama says these banks do half of the small business loans, and so they figure they are already in the community and it's a good place to start. credit conditions have worked out better for the larger institutions, but smaller ones are still having a hard time.

if we get the smaller parts of the economy moving again, that helps because small businesses employ. it's not the big companies employing here in the united states, it's about the small companies and they need to create jobs. these banks will be able to borrow from treasury at low rates and they hope this would be getting the banks interested, kyra. in the beginning, this idea was floated in october but at the time the community banks, we don't want t.a.r.p. money and we don't want the taint of it touching our banks, and we don't want the restrictions. the treasury are working to remove the restrictions off the money so the banks come in and they feel there would not be a stigma to use it, but would help

get the economy going again. americans accused of stealing children. missionaries caught in a misunderstanding, waiting for their day in court, which is today. i am rob marciano in the cnn weather center. can you spell punxsutawney? it's groundhog day. we'll be right back. [ announcer ] if you think about it, this is a lot like most job search sites. - they let everyone in, - [ crowd groans ] so the best people can't stand out. join theladders.com. the premium job site for only $100k+ jobs... and only $100k+ talent. i thought i was in great shape. so i was surprised when my doctor told me i still had high cholesterol. that really hit me, and got me thinking about my health.

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so what were they thinking? that's the subject of a hearing in haiti that is supposed to start in about an hour. we are talking about the group of idaho missionaries in a haitian jail now. they were arrested at the d dominican republic border with 33 children. >> the goal really was exactly that, to go into haiti and rescue children that might be victims of human trafficking, and give them medical and physical aid they may not otherwise have. >> the goal was to keep them in the dominican republic and not bring them to the united states?

>> maybe adoptions would be at some point in the future, but that was not the point of this trip at all. >> the goal -- they were going to acquire land, long-term, they were going to acquire land and build an orphanage and a school, and then the quake happened. >> yeah, january 12th brought a lot of emotion for a lot of folks and a great desire for folks that had needs in haiti. so these people in particular had a diagnose to go and simply help those that might have needs there. >> the children who have parents still can't go home. they are all being kept in a temporary home until the investigation is over. we will hear from some of the parents next hour. it has been three weeks now since the quake hit. the inspiring rescues stopped but you have to wonder, could be in still be alive under the rubble. cnn medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, shows us what it takes to survive.

>> reporter: we have seen story after impossible story of survivors beating the odds. this 5-year-old boy was pulled out after eight days and was severely dehydrated. this clerk at a hotel store was found after 11 days. he survived on food and drinks left in the store's wreckage, and that's according to his brother. this man said he was intombed in the rubble with a fractured hip. he survived from rationing water from a 2-gallon jug. and then there is the seemingly impossible image of this girl, rescued after 15 days. rescue workers think she had access to the water in the bathroom where she was trapped. what really dictates somebody's ability to survive? the first requirement would be

air. imagine being trapped in a inclosed space without oxygen, you will probably have hours. rescue workers will bring carbon dioxide monitors, and you make carbon dioxide when you exhail. it's possible if they find it somebody could be quietly breathing. water, 72 to 96 hours, that seems to be the window you can survive without it. most survivors had access to water, even if just licking the dew off of surrounding services. food comes next. accounts by other quake survivors talk about eating rotten happen you wills and other food that had been next to

them. this woman may be the longest survivor ever trapped after a disaster. she reportedly lived more than 60 days buried in the rubble of her home after the earthquake in pakistan in 2005. i met her myself. can i see her legs and how much weight did she lose in her legs? wow, no -- no muscle mass or fat. skin and bones. there is no large study of the survivors, and maybe there should not the be, because they are all extraordinary, each and every one of them, all by themselves. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, port-au-prince, haiti. still the world. lionel richie and quincy jones are trying it again, this time for haiti. >> we were 25 and we actually did not have that cause. so we were going to hold back.

and then all of a sudden haiti just showed up in the middle of -- >> we got a text message that said, coincidence is god's way of staying anonymous. >> and then after that i am going to go and put some haitian influence sounds on it. i think it will be a big version of "we are the world." >> i am doing a so low. i don't know what is so funny about that. when you think of raising money about singing, obviously i will be sitting here. >> we have two people in the chorus with green outfits on it. people can put their picture in the crowd. we are dealing with the latest technology, you know pn >> we won't see a final version for another ten days. the faces may be different, but the message is definitely the same. and trying to predict the

next few weeks of weather. >> ladies and gentlemen, may i introduce you to punxsutawney phil. >> amazing the guys in the top hat never get bitten. phil saw the shadow, so six more weeks of winter. now for the weather, rob marciano. >> i appreciate the shave. >> are you giving out free kisses? >> only to the special ones, kyra. >> let's talk about the past four or five years predictions, and the last three years he saw his shadow, and although it's cloudy in punxsutawney this

morning. and lee did not see his shadow. either way a study done by the ncdc, the climate center for the u.s. says punxsutawney phil has a low accuracy, so don't take it to heart. winter weather advisory has been posted. 3.57 inches in hollywood, and ft. lauderdale seeing 1.79, so a fair amount of rain across this part of the world. more rain is expected. talk about the grimblens getting

in the wall. asterisks for the forecast highs. it will be seasonal, which is about where you should be for this time of year, and in the 40s and 50s down across parts of the south. there is the guy coming out of his hole, rear end first, to see hello to anybody that cares. happy groundhog day. >> thank you, rob. well, seven people left on earth that had not seen "avatar," how cool would it be if "avatar" came to see you? a new car today has 95% lower emissions than in 1970. exxonmobil is working to improve cars, liners of tires, plastics which are lighter and advanced hydrogen technologies that could increase fuel efficiency by up to 80%.

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the automaker says repairs on the faulty gas peddles should start this weekend. we are talking about several million recalled cars by the way, so the service department will be busy. toyota's pr department could be working far longer. analysts say it could take years for the company to get back to the good name and market share. and smile, you could be on a candid camera. europe's busiest airport could show you in all your glory. the

has "avatar" come to see you. they visited troops, and autographed pictures, and then watched the flick. "avatar" was a hit on the base, but how will it go over the academy? yeah, today is not just about groundho groundhogs, butppppppppppppppppp

ladies and gentlemen, you are not in kansas anymore, you are on pandora. >> opening an entirely different kind of box, it's the award season. the grammys this past weekend and the nominees announced just this morning. "avatar" gaurning nine nominations along with "the hurt locker." well, one thing for certain, few fewer disappointments with the expanded nominees for film. and brooke anderson live in the city of angels. what were the surprises? >> reporter: not too many surprises here today, kyra. a few pleasant surprises, but mini surprises, if you will, including maggie for "crazy heart." and really the big story here

today, "avatar," and "the hurt locker," leading the nominations with nine a piece. james cameron, and katherine bigaloe. some others included in the best picture category, "precious," "up in the air," "the blind side," and "up," the second time a animated picture was in the running, and the first time it was "beauty and the beast." some people did think star trek

and maybe "the hangover" would be included in the best picture category but they did not make it. familiar names in the best actor category, including george clooney, and it would be his second oscar win. the man to beat is jeff bridges for "crazy heart," fresh off a sag win as well as a golden globe win. >> i saw "crazy heart" last week, and you just feel, he plays a down and out country singer. everybody has to see it. he is so good at just playing a really pathetic character. have you seen the movie? >> reporter: it's great, yes. a powerful performance from jeff bridges. he has been an under appreciated actor, but that will end. and sandra bullock, she has had a tremendous year. this is her first oscar nomination for "the blind side." that is an audience favorite.

it grossed more than $200 million at the box office. so with movies like "the blind side" included, maybe more people tune in. >> good story of a true story. can't get enough of that for sure. >> can't go wrong. opening up the military to openly gay groups. could lifting the ban save you tax dollars? what's around the corner is one of life's great questions.

and while it can never be fully answered, it helps to have a financial partner like northern trust. by gaining a keen understanding of your financial needs, we're able to tailor a plan using a full suite... of sophisticated investment strategies and solutions. so whatever's around the corner can be faced with confidence. ♪ northern trust. look ahead with us at northerntrust.com. announcer: you could buy 300 bottles of water. or just one brita filter. ( drop plinks ) brita-- better for the environment and your wallet. brita-- better for the environment how do we know howow many classrooms we need? the census helps us know exactly what we need. so everyone can get their fair share of funding. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census

if toyota gets credit for being the most fuel efficient car company in america, well, then how do you explain all this? chevy malibu, cobalt, silverado, and the all-new equinox. compare them to anyone. may the best car win.

wall street you bouncing back yesterday after a dismal january. we kicked off february with a triple-digit gain. we look at whether the rally will continue today. >> we hope the rally will continue. we are expecting a flat open as investors wait on a housing report due out in about 30 minutes at the top of the hour. we hear from auto makers. toyota expected to lose u.s. morgan share because of the recent recall we had earlier. and results from shipping giant ups, they had a strong holiday shipping season and the international business did pretty well. the business is considered a bellwether, a good indicator of

the overall economic health. more items being shipped, more business being conducted. banks have finally stopped tightening loan standards, however that does not necessarily mean things are getting easier. most banks have kept stringent standards in place that have been established over the last couple years. let's take a look at the early numbers and how things trade so far. the do you is up 20 points. a fifth of 1%. ups shares are up 2% on the news that i mentioned earlier about their good season. super bowl ads are sold out. cbs said it sold the final spot for sunday's game a few days ahead of schedule. the price, though, for a 30-second commercial, kyra, about $3 million. no big deal. >> a mere $3 mill. and there were controversy over spots, too. we'll talk about that.

>> yeah, a lot of controversy. >> thank you. let's go beyond sticker shock now. president obama is $3.7 trillion blueprint is out and the architects that cut the checks are taking a look at it. while that is going on, the budget director, peter orszag is trying to convince the banking committee how the money should be sent. and geithner is testifying before the senate finance committee, pushing a tax credit for companies that hire more workers, as much as 5 grand per job. they could vote on that this week. and when you thought it was over, stimulus, the sequel. he wants to keep some of the programs going, so he is slipping them in the budget, and congress would have to approve that. it includes more money for medicare, and renewing tax breaks for workers in small businesses.

so where the is president? in new hampshire pumping up a plan to help small businesses and the stimulus desk is all over it. josh levs is all over it. >> yeah, one of the questions that i keep getting, people have a lot of questions for us about the stimulus. one thing they want to know is about new forms of energy. today we are looking at new hampshire, and we stumbled on the interesting project. and there is from inside new hampshire. you can see the total costs we are talking about. $223,000, and it's to create advanced solar powered technology. you are noticing the bottom line where it says jobs created, zero. and we spoke with them and they said they have several people

working on it and they have faculty and grad students working on this, they sent us photos of the project and the team, and they said they are using the fund, and so in terms of actually creating jobs, they have to say that technically it has not created jobs. but if you can advance the technology, it could lead to jobs all over the country. if it succeeds they are able to create faster solar technology. it could relieve the dependence on foreign oil. what do you think should get stimulus money and what should not? i was wondering about the big picture here. that is one place, but what about the country? well, the energy department put out how much money was going out

to fund geothermal energy and solar. $467 million from the giant stimulus pile, and that funds all sorts of programs all over the country, including what you are seeing here. we have video of one solar energy effort. these things are going on all the time. some people think you should spend morm more money on it. and this is what we get to do today, look at where the money has gone. >> what do you have next hour? >> we are looking -- the president is going to be in new hampshire. we have now looked at every single project going on in all of new hampshire. we will tell you how many jobs that created and tell you how your money has been spent in the area the president is visiting

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the ban on gays serving openly in the military. would repealing the ban actually save taxpayer's money or cost them more? cnn's carol costello looks at the bottom line. >> republicans say it's not exactly primetime to revisit such a divisive issue. >> at a time when americans are asking where are the jobs, why do we want to get in this debate? >> those that support repealing don't ask don't tell say now is the time. if americans want physical responsibility in government, then -- >> repealing the ban would save money in the long run, absolutely. >> since 1994, they have discharged troops because of don't ask don't tell. the government's general accountability office says that costed taxpayers more than $190 million, and california put the

price tag closer to $303 million when you take into account discharging troops after training. $363 million is a drop in the bucket. >> the discharge of 13,000 or so people is small in comparison to what the military pays every year, discharging 230,000 people every year. >> a 2008 military time survey showed 24% of military personnel would eventually leave the service if gay troops served openly, and what about the cost of sensitivity training and the possibility of creating separate barics for gay and straight troops. david hall, who is gay, served six years in the air force until he was outed.

71% said they would continue to serve if don't ask don't tell is repealed. as for separate barics? >> that makes no sense. gay people are already serving in the military, and everybody knows that. >> under don't ask don't tell, at what costs? both sides hope tuesday's congressional hearing will answer that question. we want to know what you think about changing the don't ask don't tell policy in the military? send us your feedback at cnn.com/kyra. the national transportation safety board set to report on what led to last year's crash of a flight in buffalo, new york. 50 people died in that crash and it highlighted concerns of pilot training and fatigue. the stage set in miami for super bowl xliv. both teams arriving in south

florida yesterday. the saints, the five-point underdog according to the odds makers. and it's the franchise' first ever super bowl bout. security at a premium around the stadium. they have not identified any credible terror threats surrounding that game. and the shoe bandit they have been tracking for decades. he is blamed for thousands of missing pairs of footwear. so much so when they found his alleged stash, it took an entire flatbed to carry it all off. freezing foreclosures. some guys have an eye for exterior decorating in detroit.

police out of uniform for a good cause. they did have to take off shirts in the freezing temperatures, but that's all right. you will call the event a cop sicle, i guess. it's unknown how many called in sick the next day, though. we will update you tomorrow. in detroit, they are putting a major problem on ice. they are taking a look at the ice house, the deep freeze supposed to call attention to the housing market. the city has tons of thousands of abandoned homes right now, and organizers say they could be put to better use.

>> there is a lot of uses for these homes, you know. you can turn it into art or salvage the wood and recycle it. it's a matter of looking at it from a different perspective. >> what happens when the ice melts? that house will be torn down and the land will be donated. frozen homes and the copsicles are in no immediate danger of melting, isn't that right? >> yeah, frozen, stay that way. >> i got bad intel. >> we don't have a huge warm up. springtime is coming, and depending on which groundhog you believe will determine whether spring is coming early or not. the overall pattern is a chilly third of the country. know not a whole lot of accumulation of snow in the great lakes. the bigger headache is happening

across the extreme southeast with moisture being in the chilly air. we have winter weather advisories for extreme parts of north carolina and virginia to the south, pockets of slick pots and to the north maybe one to three inches of wintry precip piping up. and the blues and yellows and greens indicating rain. you get up towards the white and that, of course, is snow. and in the western slopes of the appellations seeing a little bit of snowfall there. down to the south where we saw record-breaking rain in miami, we are seeing a little less across southern florida, and more rain from tampa up to orlando, and some of the rain for the next couple hours could be heavy at times. as far as what is going on in d.c., right now not too bad. there is a lot of the capital, fuzzy, and snow on the ground there.

they have seen a ton of snow this year, mostly from the big snowstorm that rolled through last month. you might get snow today, but i don't think it will amount to a whole lot. we will talk more about punxsutawney phil and his brothers across the country and how we celebrate today. >> how do you celebrate that? a roadant roast or something like that? >> peta is already upset -- >> yeah, have a nice day. now, 230 murders already and that's with thousands of mexican troops deployed. we are talking about a worse thing situation there on the border, the death toll up to 16 from the sunday morning massacre. what is going on? >> it's amazing.

last year 2,600 people killed. this is -- it was supposed to be a record. based on the numbers that we are getting this year so far, like you mention, 33 days, 230 people, it's probably going to increase even more. and the mexican government has sent thousands and thousands of troops. the situation doesn't seem to get better and people are scared. >> this is right up against el paso, texas. we talked to the mayor there and talked to the sheriff there, and we talked to reporters that cover that beat, and a lot of them are scared to death because they are being killed for covering the story. why do we care? not only because of the deaths in juarez, but we are talking about drugs rolling into the u.s. ? >> yes, people are crossing over and living in el paso because they feel safer, but we are starting to see problems like

homicides, kidnappings that you did not see before. and not only mexican drug cartels as the spring board into the united states drug market, and that's the reason why you see the kind of violence -- we are talking about an industry, an illegal industry that makes about $20 billion a year in profits based on drug sales alone. this is only seconds to the oil industry in mexico, for example. you have a big problem that pertains not only mexico, but also to the united states, and the south american countries, countries like columbia that produce cocaine, ship it to mexico, and then juarez it comes into the united states. >> yeah, my next question and there is controversy about how involved shoot u.s. become involved in this when it comes to policing and military, and huge controversy, but what

juarez upped the security, it backed off because there is so much going on with the cartel. what kind of funding have we received? >> not exactly stimulus dollars, but united states under an initiative has been giving money to mexico to fight cartels. we are talking about $48 million in the last two years or so. but this money is definitely, probably, can you buy a helicopter or two. not enough to compete against international organized crimes. like i said before, we are talking about profits of $20 billion. as you can imagine, they have the best weapons in the world and better organized than the mexican army and police combined, so a huge international problem. >> i remember interviewing mexican cops and they said the

bad guys have far more firepower than we do. how do you take them down? >> yeah, you are talking about high-powered weapons compared t? well, there's an updated version. it's called who took the money from the haiti jar. police would like to know who these two are and seriously it doesn't get much lower than this. ♪ ♪ ♪ one tribe, one time, one planet, one race ♪ ♪ it's all one blood, don't care about your face ♪ ♪ color of your eye or the tone of your skin ♪ ♪ don't care where you are, don't care where you been ♪ ♪ 'cause where we're gonna go is where we want to be ♪ ♪ the place where the native language is unity ♪ ♪ and the continent is called pangaea ♪ ♪ and the main ideas are connected like a sphere ♪ ♪ if i had an enemy, then my enemy is gonna try ♪ ♪ to come and kill me 'cause i'm his enemy ♪ ♪ there's one tribe, y'all ♪ we one tribe, y'all ♪ ♪ we one tribe, y'all ♪ we are one people ♪ let's catch amnesia

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oh, yeah, that whole we are the world thing, it really didn't sink in with one couple. check out this security video from a restaurant near kansas city. watch the woman on the lower left. she's checking out the donation jar for haiti, and she puts it down. and then here comes her husband, boyfriend, brother, we're really not sure what he is besides a low life but we're pretty sure he is a thief too. yep, you want fries with that jar? liberty, missouri, police looking for the couple. if the two ever wanted to be cnn heroes, they can forget about that. if you and your sweetie break up like that donation-stealing couple probably will, here's an idea of what you can do with the stuff

he or she leaves behind. give it to good will instead of the dumpster or the fireplace. good will near harrisburg, pennsylvania, has a donation drive going. dump your exes' stuff, jewelry, the bread maker you never use, they'll take it. too bad they won't take the baggage or the tattoos. and this just in, aussies love their booze. a poll from the charity feb fast found one in five drinkers down under would rather go without sex than alcohol. 12% said they would pick alcohol over their friends if they had to choose. however, here's a good thing, feb fast is trying to get australians to give up drinking this month. there's a lot going on this morning and we have crews in place to bring you the details. let's begin with poppy harlow in new york. >> reporter: hey there, kyra. how big of a hit did toyota sales take last month following that massive recall? we'll look at the numbers that are expected.

also we talked to a lot of consumers on the street this week about how they're feeling about the whole recall. we'll have more on that coming up in the next hour. i'm rob marciano in the severe weather center. we are celebrating groundhog day. depending on which rodent you listen to will mean different things for different people. plus today's forecast in the next hour. well, the hardships of war, the hard decisions of leadership. two combat vets now serving in congress answer the big question, does sexual orientation matter in the war zone? most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply. and they absorb co2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem, as well. we're making a big commitment to finding out... just how much algae can help to meet... the fuel demands of the world.

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let's see what's happening on cnn.com. we're going to go to our news pulse icon. it's up on the top left. these are stories we like to check about every 15 minutes or so because that's when it's updau updated. sometimes there's something you're interested in we're not covering. we talked about the list of the academy award nominations. that is the most popular story on the news pulse right now. here's one we didn't get to today. virgin airlines unveiled the latest addition to richard branson's luxury fleet on friday. listen to this. he's got an underwater plane

that's going to fly riders into the depths of the caribbean sea. that ought to be fun. and then the third, we've been talking about this all day, groundhog day, yes, phil saw the shadow, more winter ahead. every 15 minutes it's updated so check it out, cnn.com/newspulse. all right. it's the seat that ended up center stage in a scandal and i'm talking about senate seat -- that senate seat from illinois that opened up when barack obama became president. today voters across the state are picking a democrat and a republican to face off later this year to fill that seat. they're also picking party nominees for governor. it seems like just yesterday that we were hearing the now former governor of illinois defend his good name from allegations that he tried to sell the seat to the highest bidder. >> if i was some guilty crook, i'd be cowering in some office in the corner in a fetal position hiding. i'm asserting my innocence because i know it to be true. there's something bigger at

stake and what i said before, that is my daughters, my little girls need to know that their father is not the guy some of these people are saying he is. >> and then there was senator roland burris. remember he said basically the same thing. >> i ask you today to stop the rush to judgment. you know the real roland, i've done nothing wrong and i have absolutely nothing to hide. >> senator burris not wanting a full term. we'll follow the race nonetheless. there's always a lot of interesting corruption within chicago politics. well, $3.8 trillion is a pretty big number to try to make sense of. the president's money men are on capitol hill this hour trying to sell his proposed budget. the budget director and treasury secretary, well, they're going to have to convince some pretty skeptical members of two senate

committees. meanwhile in new hampshire the president pitching a $30 billion plan to jump start small businesses, including incentives for banks to lend to small businesses. a fiery crash on a freezing night. the commuter plane had stalled, then dove into a house. 50 people died in suburban buffalo. >> all i could see was fire. fire and explosions. that's all we could see. and then we saw the woman from the house where she fell to the ground and she actually didn't have any shoes on. and you just don't know what to do. you're kind of just stunned. you want to help and we tried to get close to the house, we couldn't get there. >> well, now it's been nearly a year since that fatal crash and there's so much that needs to be changed. our allan chernoff monitoring the ntsb hearings today.

>> reporter: tragically this crash brought out so many problems with aviation safely in our nation, it's going to look at the issue of pilot fatigue, pilot experience, pilot training, all of those were major issues contributing to this crash it appeared. and the ntsb will put out its final report on the crash right after the meeting. kyra. >> well, in the meantime the faa tried to do a lot to improve air safety since the crash. >> reporter: they have been working on this. the head of the faa has put out a call to action. he has demanded that all the airlines improve their training, have mentoring, they have had a committee looking into this issue of fatigue because it is a problem for every airline and pilots tell us they're all fighting fatigue. but so far at least in regards to fatigue, nothing has actually been put into place, concrete

steps, to require that people get more rest, but there are a lot of ideas on the table and everybody is very much aware of this very issue. >> all right, we'll be following it with you, thanks so much. no scan, no fly. that's the rule at london's heathrow airport. new body scannes are in place at gates, the one that say can see through your clothes. it's the response the christmas day attack in detroit. not everyone will have to go through scanners but if you're picked and you say no, well, you don't get to fly. new marching orders for the u.s. military. today on capitol hill defense secretary robert gates discussing lifting the began on gays serving in the armed forces. it's the first major step in that direction since the don't ask, don't tell policy ignited a firestorm some 17 years ago. so what is life like being gay in today's military? cnn's ted rollins has that point

of view. >> reporter: three active members of the u.s. military, all gay, all possibly risking their careers talking to us. that's why we're not showing their faces. an army sergeant with ten years of service, a female army mp who's been in five years and has been to iraq and a navy sailor who joined a year and a half ago. they all argue that despite that's going on in the world, including two wars, now is the time to change don't ask, don't tell. and listen to what they say about living a lie. >> i am terrified that somebody in my chain of command is going to find out. there's always that pressure. >> i agree, it is a near constant thing because you're almost always putting up some sort of a front, that band of brothers that everybody talks about, i'm kind of that brother with the secret and yet it does wear on you. >> why do this interview?

>> belonging to an institution doesn't mean you can't tell it when it's broken. >> i truly think it is the best thing for the military, all the services and the best thing for this country for this law to be repealed. >> why now? why do we need to deal with this now? >> it is a problem now. i think that our deployed soldiers deserve to have their full rights. >> gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders are in the military now. people know about it. the people who are against it who don't want to take a shower with us, that stuff already happens. it's not going to change. >> do you find that people through the process of elimination figure you are gay? >> i've been aware of people who knew that i was gay and never really felt like i was threatened. i never felt like i had to keep watching over my shoulder for, you know, the witch hunters to come after me with their torches and pitchforks. >> i would say everybody in my group where i work, they all

know that i'm gay. if i can be open with them, i would be able to trust them more and they know they could trust me because i trust them with something so important. >> would you all come out right away if don't ask, don't tell was lifted? >> i wouldn't go out to everybody saying, hey, i'm gay. but, you know, the people that were important to me, if they're important to me, they'll know. >> i'm not going to hang a rainbow flag in my office, but i'm definitely having a coming out party. >> all three are pleased and surprised that the president mentioned repeeling don't ask, don't tell in his state of the union address. they're hoping that actually leads to a change so they can stop living a lie. ted rowlands, cnn. they served in war and today they serve in congress. two combat vets answer the question how important is sexual orientation when the bullets starting flying. we want to know what you think about changing the don't ask, don't tell policy in the

military. send your feedback to cnn.com/kyra and we'll have some of your responses coming up in our hour. too poor to care for his kids. a haitian father trying to get them a better life. that's right. he didn't want to make that choice, but he chose to give them away. the little girl is the center of a child trafficking investigation. would you like a pony ?

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supposed to start this hour. it's about those ten american missionaries accused of trafficking children. they're still in jail, 33 kids in limbo. you'll see some weren't orphans, either. some were just handed over by their parents who wanted their kids to have a better life. karl penhaul talked to some of the parents. >> reporter: family photos taken before a desperate father gave away his baby daughters. he says he handed over 4-year-old soria and 5-year-old leila to a group of american baptists last week. the americans are now in a haitian jail accused of trafficking 33 babies and children. the story is echoed by other children in this village, said he was too poor to care for his kids after the quake. he hoped the americans would offer his girls a brighter future. i put them on the bus with the americans with my own hands. i played with them up until the last minute.

then i kissed them both goodbye and told them don't forget daddy, he said. another man says he earns $1 a day fixing computers shows us around his home. he finds the grubby bear his little soria called tejong. he packed nothing for his kids. he said the americans promised to give the children schooling, a safe home in the dominican republic, new clothes and soft toys. i was crying because i didn't know when i would see them again, but it's okay if i suffer, but at their age they should not suffer. they can't go hungry, he said. in the grassy square, villagers say 21 of the 33 children taken by the americans were from here. they say at least 14 the one or both parents. in a weekend jailhouse interview, the americans told cnn they believed all the children they attempted to bus

into the dominican republic wer. >> we believe that we've been charged very falsely with trafficking, which of course that is the furthest possible extre extre extreme. >> reporter: in a temporary refuge for children, a 10-year-old play as loan on a swing, hoping her mom will change her mind and come fetch her. we find her mother in the same mountain village as the other parents. she misses her daughter and cradles her doll. she remembers how the girl sobbed as she left last thursday. i told her to call me once in a while, just so i know how she's doing so i would know if she was fine, she says. her parents scrape by farming vegetables and bananas. they're the poorest of the poor. she says the only thing she

could give the girl was her love, even if it meant sending her away. i told her she should go and i promised one day i would go and see her. after she left, i was very sad, she says. the haitian government is now investigating what the americans plan to do with the children who had no passports and no permission to leave and whether they knowingly committed a crime. ultimately it's the authorities who will decide whether this is a case of kidnapping or child trafficking, but what it clearly is, is a story about poverty, a place where parents who say they love their children believe the best chance to get them a better life is to send them away. karl penhaul, cnn, haiti. and there's no rest for the stimulus desk when you've got page after page of project after project. who has time for sleep? josh lef is ready to show you how uncle sam is spending your money.

a heart attack caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots. ask your doctor about plavix. protection that helps save lives. people with stomach ulcers or other conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines including aspirin may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, may affect how plavix works. tell your doctor all the medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur. it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business.

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it's groundhog day and we're expecting at least six more weeks of stimulus. the president wants to keep some of those key stimulus programs going, so he's slipping them into the budget. congress has to approve it, of course. some of those programs include more money for med cared and infrastructure projects and renewing tax breaks for workers and small businesses. you've seen the stimulus books on our stimulus desk. a whole forest had to die for all those pages. among the pages a school in a new hampshire district that's gotten more than $2 million in funding. president obama is there today too pushing it. josh levs at the cnn stimulus desk. let's talk about where the millions went. >> reporter: this is an interesting one. obviously we have reason to take a look because that's where the president is headed. we'll zoom into new hampshire and once we're there we're going all the way into the high school where he's going to be speaking. it's called nashua high school

north. when we go all the way in, that's where the president is speaking today. it's interesting to look at it from the stimulus desk because this specific school has gotten more than $2 million. i can show you it's closer to $3 million that this school has gotten. an interesting program here to work with at-risk high school students. you can there about $2.9 million. the idea is they have hired a couple of guidance counselors and are paying some teachers to work with students after school. we have the full statewide figures for you here. new hampshire has been a beneficiary of the stimulus project. look at that, $31 million, 79 jobs saying across the state. the idea is to help schools deal with kids who are in troubled situations, at-risk students. this is one of the project that say might come up today while the president is right there at the school that has gotten that money and good example of a time

you should think what should and should not get stimulus funding. we're also looking at the big picture as i promised you last hour because new hampshire just like so much of america has faced a lot of trouble in recent years with rising unemployment. we have this on the screen for you as well. it has doubled over two years. look at this here. 3.5% in december, 2007. jump ahead one year, 4.3%. then this past december, 7.0%. it jumped from 3.5 to 7.0% in just two years. interesting for a president to be in a state that has seen its own unemployment double the past two years. one more thing i wanted to show you which is how many jobs have been created by the stimulus according to this latest report which is right here. basically 1300. 1,295 jobs have been reported created by the stimulus according to recovery.gov. a state in which 1300 jobs have

been reported funded by the stimulus. that's a numbers for you but that's an reality check in advance for some of the things as the president highlights the state as an example of what the administration says is a beneficiary of that giant $862 billion package that passed a year ago. top stories now, what caused the crash of flight 3407. 50 people were killed in the crash near buffalo, new york, last year. the ntsb is wrapping up the investigation this morning. it's actually going to tell us the cause and offer possible new safety recommendations for regional airlines. you should be able to get your recalled toyota fixed soon. parts to fix the bad gas pedals should start arriving at dealerships. millions of collars were recalled. dealers are expected to start fixing them this weekend and it won't cost you a dime. gilbert arenas has a message for kids out there. don't be like me. don't bring a gun to a locker room, don't threaten your teammates with it and don't make

fun of the situation by pretending to shoot people on the basketball court. he's suspended for the season and could face jail time after pleading guilty to the gun charge but he wrote an apology saying hopefully youngsters will learn from the serious mistakes i made with guns and not make any of their own. so is your back side killing you? i'm not talking pain, i'm talking your mortality. don't take this sitting down and don't turn the other cheek, all right?

you want to live longer?

get off your duff. i'm not talking about homer simpson's brands of beer. listen to the results of this new study. it afirms that the opposite of exercise is true. the study suggests every hour you watch tv sitting down, you have a greater chance of dying from heart disease. so if you love that dvr for at least four hours, you'll have an 80% greater chance of heart problems compared to someone who only watches the tube for about two hours. for context, the average american tv viewers spends five hours a day watching the small screen. and to a much more imprecise science, long-term meteorology predicted by a freshly awoken wood chuck. pennsylvania, here we come. >> ladies and gentlemen, may i introduce to you punxsatawney phil! >> and gobbler's knob one and

only news line of the year is this, the infamous groundhog, punxsatawney phil, rousted as usual for his annual prediction. you know, you're a big-time groundhog when you have your own spokesperson now. >> phil proclaimed if you want to know next, you must read my text. as the sky shines bright above me, my shadow i see beside me. six more weeks of winter it will be. >> the tradition dates back to 1887, as you know. but this year was the first time the overgrown whistle pig went high tech. he actually texted his prognostication. you've come a long way, baby, but not without controversy or consensus. phil's southern cousin says spring will come early. what's a woman to do but turn to meteorologist rob marciano.

help me out. >> why don't we have video of phil texting this proclamation? >> because that will be the second thing that peta will be really upset about. >> child labor laws or groundhog labor laws in effect. listen, i want to give you some history of the past five years what's gone down with phil. saw his shadow in '06, no shadow in '07, the past three years he saw his shadow, including today, and that means six more weeks of winter. i should note that the main climate center in the u.s. has done a study on this and he has less than a 40% accuracy rating. so slightly less than ours. hi, phil. we'll see you next year, buddy. nice work today. here's what's going on around the rest of the country. a couple of areas of low pressure, both pretty weak, but the one across the south is causing a little problems in the way of rain yesterday in through florida, record-breaking amount of rain from miami north towards ft. lauderdale and hollywood,

florida. a little breaking out across southern florida today but more in the way of rainfall across northern florida. getting now into the carolinas. this is where it's becoming a little more of an issue because it's running into colder air. because of that, and you see the white there, that is snow. there's a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain in some spots, especially across the i-81 corridor. 1 to 3 inches of snow potentially here across parts of western virginia. now that winter weather advisory has been extended to washington, d.c. if you live in d.c. to baltimore, you're probably going to see some snowfall later on today. i guess he's coming back. he just will not give way. he's got a publicist now, he's got spokes people. punxsatawney phil is certainly a forecasting force to be reckoned with, no doubt about that. >> put him away until next year. >> yeah, with pleasure. see ya. gays openly serving in the military. it's going to be one of the

hottest debates in washington. but what's the view from the front lines? we're going to talk to two combat vets now serving in congress. (announcer) a cold or flu can start fast. it can go from a scratchy throat in the morning. to a cough. to a full body ache... at night. new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night work fast too. they release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can rest, day and night. feel better, tylenol cold. right now 1.2 million people are on sprint mobile broadband. 31 are streaming a sales conference from the road. 154 are tracking shipments on a train. 33 are iming on a ferry. and 1300 are secretly checking email on vacation.

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they were so helpful and nice. they filed all the paperwork, and medicare and my insurance covered the cost. we can work directly with medicare or with your insurance company. we can even help with financing. if there's a way, we'll find it! so don't wait any longer, call the scooter store today. it could be one of the most emotional issues looming on capitol hill right now. defense secretary robert gates discussing lifting the ban on gays openly serving in the military. our next two guests are lawmakers but what really fascinates us is their perspective as combat veterans. representative duncan hunter is a former marine who served two

tours in iraq and one in afghanistan. he'd like to see this policy stand as is. eric massa is a naval academy graduate and retired navy commander. he thinks don't ask, don't tell should go away. he served during several global conflicts and was even the special assistant to the supreme allied commander of nato. gentlemen, good to see you both. >> good to be with you. >> good morning. >> congressman hunter, let's start with you. when you were in the military, and i know you have plenty of combat experience, you were in the fight right there in fallujah, iraq, when you were active, did anyone come out to you? >> no, no. i didn't have any awareness of any homosexuals or transgenders in my units or any other units for that matter. i was in a combat unit, artillery and infant re. there were no women in it and we didn't have any folks coming out saying that they were homosexuals. but, you know, this is interesting that we're having this debate right now.

they're holding an hour debate in the senate in the armed services committee on don't ask, don't tell. they have not dedicated a full hearing to roadside bombs. the number one killer of our military over there so we aren't focusing on how to win the war in afghanistan and iraq, we're going to focus on changing social policy in the midst of two wars. it's the wrong time for this debate, i think. >> wrong time for the debate but it's going on and has obviously been a very hot button issue as it is with you. you said you never knew of anybody that was gay with whom you served. what if someone would have come up to you and come out to you. at that point would that have changed how you went into bal battle? would that have changed how you fought alongside that individual? seriously if you were in the middle of it, a firefighter in fallujah, and somehow you discovered that early in the morning or later at the day would you look at that warrior

differently at that moment in the heat of battle? >> yeah, you know, probably. that would have changed things for me. >> why? why would it have changed things for you? >> the interesting thick is too this isn't what i feel about home skpuosexuals in the milita homosexuals at all. this is about law, law in the united states. right now the law exists that we don't have open homosexuality in the military. this isn't about what i think about in the battle. >> new york cio, it is. you served in the military. you're also a member of congress, you make huge decisions. it's a decision being talked about right now on the hill. this could change the face of life for gays in the military. and so it is a very important discussion to have. is it more important than another discussion, i think that's left to everybody's opinion. i want to continue with you, but congressman massa, let me ask you, what about you? did anybody ever come out to you in the military?

did you serve with any gays in the military? >> first of all, i think your listeners should understand that congressman hunter is a highly decorated combat veteran. i served for 24 years in the military and my record does not stack up against his many months overseas but we both come from honesty and integrity, our core values of military personnel. to require men and women to serve under a lie where dishonesty has to be the call of the day is simply wrong. for those to say that this impacts combat effectiveness, i ask them to look no farther than our close allies like israel. now, no one is going to say that the israel army is not combat tested or battle scarred and yet in that army, which reflects a government and a people of deep cultural and religious beliefs, gays openly serve, as now in england where first it was tested and found to have no impact whatsoever on combat readiness. and yet in those two services,

should those members execute exchange duty with our armed forces, because of our policies, they cannot. i know there's common ground. i've known duncan and i've known him before he joined the marine corps. he and i have absolute beliefs in honesty and integrity in combat units. this won't have an impact on combat readiness. we've seen that in our allies. gays have been serving in the military for as long as we've had a military. in fact any commander who doesn't understand who is or in fact who isn't in their unit is probably kind of disconnected from reality because i can tell you this. the troops all know. by some recent polling, 60 to 70% don't care. this is not a military issue. it is a political issue. and, therefore, it is correct that it's being dealt with where it is, amongst the dozens of hearings that we have on military equipment, roadside bombs, tactics and strategy. >> congressman, with that in

mind, that ethos that your fellow congressman mentioned, being gay, does that make you a weaker warrior? >> no, but it takes away from the cohesiveness and unity of that unit. it takes away the comfort and ability for those men and women to feel comfortable in extremely close quarters, showering, fox holes, barracks, living together. we don't let men and women live together in the military, so why would you let, you know, different homosexual men live together too. and i think eric's point -- >> well, let me ask you this. >> reinforces this. he says this is not a military issue, it's a political issue. it is a political issue that should not be forced on the military without the military wanting it. this is not for different i had logical groups, this is for the military to decide. >> if i could for just a moment -- >> congressman massa, let me throw in as congressman hunter

mentions this cohesive military, you know, general john -- the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and wrote in a statement last week as a nation build on the principle of equality, we should recognize and welcome change that will build a stronger, more cohesive military. as you just mentioned, congressman hunter. it is time to repeal don't ask, don't tell. congressman massa, you mentioned the impact worldwide in military. i mean is there any proof that if you come out and say "i'm gay" whether you're special forces or just private first class, is that really going to tear up a cohesive military? >> i'm far more interested, the military members can shoot fly and sail straight than as to whether or not they are straight. i'm joined by former admiral joe sestak, member of congress and former sergeant major tim waltz and a combat iraq veteran who's taken a lead on this, pat murphy. we and many others and the vast

majority of americans believe that it is time to end this incredibly irresponsible, incredibly expensive, hundreds of millions of dollars, 13,000 members of the armed forces ejected, which by the way means that someone has to take their place and serve even longer tours overseas in hostile environments. i believe very strongly it's time to end this policy. >> final thought, congressman hunter. we've got to go. >> yeah, it's one-half of 1% of all people that have been discharged in the last nine years, one-half of 1% of them have been discharged because they were homosexual. this is not a readiness issue, this is not an impact issue, it's not hurting the military that we're discharging homosexuals. we need to win the wars in iraq and afghanistan, not talk about pushing social ideology and experimenting with the military while we're in these two conflicts. >> representative duncan hunter and representative eric massa, great discussion. i thought just the fact that you

both have served i thought added a lot to this debate and the power of the debate. >> just for the record, i think duncan owes me a beer when we get back in washington. >> okay. beer summit part two and we will talk about homosexuality in the military. i hope i can be a part of that. gentlemen, appreciate it. that brings us to today's blog question. we did ask for your thoughts on the don't ask, don't tell policy. eric writes i did not join the air force in 1996 because of this rule. i didn't want to get kicked out if someone found out that i was gay. i wanted to serve my country but felt shameful so i went to college. here's what kres fer writes. i'm an nco in the air force and honestly i would rather not know if the guy working beside me is gay. i think this allows for more of a professional and productive military. and brenda writes it's time that the military change the don't ask, don't tell policy. no one should have to hide their sexual orientation to serve their country. remember, we want to hear from you. just log on to cnn.com/kyra and share your comments with me.

i really appreciate you coming in. repairing your recalled toyota. that's about a 30-minute fix. repairing toyota's image, that's going to take a little longer. 

maybe you've gone to the theater to see "avatar," excuse me, the oscar huff name natd "avatar." but has it come to see you. the casting crew went to haiti and then watched the movie together. 25 years later we are the world part two, same song, same idea, but different voices. ♪ it's a choice we're making,

we're saving our whole lives ♪ >> yep, more than 75 stars of 2010 have rerecorded that 1985 charity anthem. back then you had michael jackson, bob dylan, huey lewis, stevie wonder all singing for africa. this time you've got jonas brothers, pink, by -- when. >> keep in mind when we did this for africa, it brought a whole other energy to the african nation so we're hoping this happens for haiti. and it's lights out colorado springs. maybe the headlights on your car can take up the slack. the city is going to cut off about 10,000 streetlights over the next couple of months. why? to save money. lots of it. maybe more than a billion bucks. so did toyota sales tank last month? today we get a clue about how the company's massive recall is

affecting its business and that's where we go to cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow. she's in new york. poppy, how bad could the numbers be? >> reporter: pretty terrible. we're going to get those january sales numbers and what a lot of analysts are expecting is that toyota's market share in the u.s. will have fallen to 14.7%. that is down from 17% last january. if that's the case, that would be the lowest number we have seen for their sales in this country since march of 2006 and it would be down 12% from a year ago. so the question is why is this happening, why the dramatic fall in market share for this company that has been very popular in the united states. the main reason here, the big driver, is that they stopped selling altogether all of the recalled toyota models completely, and of course that includes, unfortunately for toyota, their best-selling camry. so those are what the numbers are expected to look like. we also wanted to ask people here in new york how they're feeling about the recall. we were surprised to find out that almost everyone we spoke with knew about the recall. here's a little sense of what

they were feeling. take a listen. >> well, it's going to be a lot of cars, and people probably are not going to have the respect for toyota as they once maybe perhaps had. >> my parents have decided they will not be getting another toyota, ever. >> toyota always seemed like a brand that you can trust. it almost makes me feel like it's an american car. that's the way things used to be. the japanese cars were always cleaner, better, easier to run. >> things happen, they'll fix it. they'll be fine. things have happened in the automotive business like this all the time. they'll fix it. i'm sure they'll rectify it. it's a great company. >> reporter: so a mixed feeling about toyota. most people feel like that last guy but as you heard from another woman her parents won't ever buy a toyota again so this is a major, major image problem. >> it seems like we just started to hear about it the last two weeks but this goes back to

accidents, 911 calls, bad times. >> reporter: you're exactly right. this goes back years. but when you look at the recent history, let's take october. october is when toyota says that it first got the reports of this problem. they spent about the next 90 days looking in-depth at what the problem could be and finding a fix. then it was just two weeks ago almost exactly that they came out and they told us what the problem was and then just yesterday they came out publicly, the head of toyota u.s., to talk about how they're going to fix the problem. it's later this week that customers will get the calls to bring in their recalled cars. let's look back over the last ten years because toyota and to be fair, other automakers have had reports of these unintended acceleration. that's the whole problem here. these reports have been coming in over the last ten years. for toyota specifically, there are analysts that say they can tie 19 deaths to this unintended acceleration problem with toyota over the last ten years. that's a major concern.

toyota this morning on the phone with us wouldn't confirm that number. they said, however, that they are deeply sorry for any concerns that the recalls have cost their customers. there's a lot of analysis at cnnmoney.com, really breaking it down to you. dissent within the ranks of america's prague nauft kagt rodentia. where's my car? where's my car?!!!! where are you?! arghhh... (announcer) dr. scholl's massaging gel insoles give you outrageous comfort, all-day-guaranteed. woah. it's not too far... (announcer) are you gellin'? dr. scholl's.

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hi, i'm rob marciano in the cnn severe weather center. first off the mid-atlantic, a storm rolling through there and a weaker storm moving through the western great lakes. they're combining a little bit but the bigger threat will be across the mid-atlantic with this storm. running into colder air. chicago, if you're doing some travel, 30-minute delays at o'hare. atlanta hartsfield seeing 30-minute delays and charlotte 30-minute delays as well. let's look at the atlanta tower cam. still low-level moisture as we pan across the midtown high rises there. the rain for the most part has moved out of atlanta but another batch rolling in for later in the week. record amounts of rain across parts of florida yesterday. over 3 inches in ft. lauderdale. most of that rain has moved a little farther to the north as this thing begins to run into

cooler air. we do have a winter storm or winter weather advisory, i should say, for parts of western virginia and maryland. 1 to 3 inches of a mixture of rain, sleet and snow expected and that does include washington, d.c. and baltimore. that's the latest from here. we'll have more weather updates throughout the day. >> all right, rob, thanks. well, have you seen "the hurt locker." ? some folks call it the platoon of the iraq war. >> 45 seconds. you have 45 seconds. >> go! everybody get back! >> go, go, go. >> yep, pretty intense stuff. and the academy apparently loved it. [ loud rumbling ] [ rifle fires ] [ announcer ] if you think about it, this is what makes theladders different... from other job search sites. we only want the big jobs.

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boss: ha, yeah, good luck with that catching on! anncr: geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. >> ladies and gentlemen, you're not in kansas anymore, you're on pandora. >> the oscar nominees announced this morning and not surprisingly "avatar" in the thick of things, garnering nine nominations. corrine winter is in los angeles with the rest of the oscar rundown. for surprises, i guess, until at least the ceremony march 7th, right? >> reporter: that's right. you talk about "avatar" and "the hurt locker." it's such a david and go loolia pairing. "avatar" has more than $2 billion in ticket sales going up

against the little film that could, this war-themed film "the hurt locker" that cost about $11 million to make and actually lost money in its release but stands around $16 million worldwide. it's very interesting this pairing and how it will shape up award night. another thing that's worth noting, a little drama playing out here with the exes, battle of the exes. you have james cameron's "avatar" as well as katherine big elow's "the hurt locker." she's fresh off the director's guild win over the weekend. jeopardy, how appropriate. some tsa employees' jobs might be isn't? jeopardy because of a board game they came up with, a board game maybe based on you.

hey, i'll take inappropriate behavior for 100, alex. tsa employees in orlando under investigation now. they're accused of making passengers, you know those people they're paid to protect, game pieces in their own board game. a game based on disrespect. chris from wkmg reports. >> reporter: passengers who have heard about this tsa investigation are wondering whether these security officials should have access to even more intrusive scanning technology.

rick and sue mcgrath just flew into orlando from pittsburgh and were shocked to hear the tsa employees might be making fun of passengers for their own entertainment. >> that's kind of rude and it's, you know, they need maybe a little more supervision. >> expect someone in that position to go look at their articles and then wait till their back is turned and then say what was she using that for. yes, that would bother me. >> reporter: this is the photograph of the suspected board that resembles a jeopardy game where the categories include gays, lesbians and african-americans. >> that's not appropriate and those individuals should be dealt with and taken care of. >> reporter: the tsa issued a statement saying it's taking the allegations seriously and its orlando air marshal's office is cooperating with the investigation. but with the tsa set to start using see-through scanners, some travelers question whether security employees might use those for some kind of inappropriate game. >> if they have got access to that kind of stuff x-rays you,

they don't need to be playing games. >> how much they have so much free time they can do it. >> reporter: the tsa won't comment on how this game was played or who was involved. they say that is part of their ongoing investigation. at orlando international airport, chris trankman. a quick look at the top stories. what caused the crash of flight 3407. 50 people were killed in that crash near buffalo, new york, last year. the ntsb is wrapping up the investigation this morning. they'll tell us about the cause and issue possible safely recommendations for regional airlines. and you should be able to get your toyota fixed pretty soon. parts should start arriving at dealerships. millions of cars were recalled. dealers are expected to start fixing them this weekend and it won't even cost you a dime. gilbert arenas has a message for the kids out there. don't be like me. like don't bring a gun to the locker room, don't threaten your teammates with it and don't make fun of the situation by

pretending to shoot people on the basketball court. that was brilliant. he's suspended for the season and could face jail time after pleading guilty to a gun charge. he actually wrote an apology to the "washington post" as well saying, quote, hopefully youngsters will learn from the serious mistakes i made with guns and not make any of their own. thanks for joining us, everybody. we'll see you back here tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern. betty nguyen in for tony harris. >> hi there. it's tuesday, february 2lnd. here are the top stories right here in the cnn newsroom. congress will soon hear from the defense secretary. momentum builds to abolish don't ask, don't tell. a prominent medical journal retracts a landmark study that linked autism to childhood vaccines. and heart break from haiti. parents say they gave their children away in hopes of a better life after the earthquake. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen in for tony harris today and you are in the "cnn newsroom."